Sails Away, to Far and Beyond
by Laurie-ky
Summary: Stargate Universe with SG1 characters. Rush/Young. kidfic. Prologue : On Destiny, Eli's come up with Plan B. But for all of them to survive the trip to the next galaxy, Rush and Young are going to have to live with the consequences. At Stargate Command, something forces the iris open. A strange entity stumbles through, connecting Destiny with Earth's survival.
1. Prolouge

**Sails Away, to Far and Beyond**

_Prologue_

"Colonel?"

He opened his eyes, but they drifted shut again.

"Crap. Colonel Young?"

He opened his eyes again and saw a young man with tousled dark hair, stocky, dressed in a gray sweatshirt. He was standing below Young, his good-natured features solemn.

Eli.

He glanced around and confirmed that he was still in the stasis pod, open to the corridor. Eli was alive, that was great news. He felt the tension in his shoulders relax.

"What's our status, Eli? Did it take three years or a thousand?"

Eli made a face, one side of his mouth quirking up into a rueful expression. "Actually, it's only been a week since Destiny turned you into a popsicle. I need to talk to you. And to Rush."

"Rush? Where is he?" He stepped down and quickly surveyed the corridor. It was just Eli and him standing there in the dim light. He motioned for Eli to come with him as he jogged down to where he had left Rush in a stasis pod, the man's hands clasped together, eyes closed as the ship had frozen him into stillness.

With a sense of relief, he saw that Rush was safely enclosed in the pod. He wasn't roaming the ship, doing god knows what. It was odd to see Rush this way. Even when the other man had been just sitting quietly at a console or leaning forward gripping the observation deck railing with both hands, attention focused outwards, there had always been a sense of contained energy about him. Except... except for those times when he'd been in the neural interface chair, where he'd seemed more dead than alive. Or in a coma or passed out from exhaustion.

Or, his conscience whispered, the time you beat him into unconsciousness and abandoned him, flung like a discarded rag doll onto the hot sand of a desert planet. Or when you choked him till he passed out, white hot anger cooling before Rush had stopped breathing all together. Everett had pushed him away so he wouldn't have to look at Rush's deceiving, lying, manipulative face. He'd been a limp tangle of limbs for long minutes, lying on the deck of the wrecked alien ship.

He'd looked so small that way. He never seemed like a small man when he was confronting Young or losing his temper, or coming up with solutions to their never-ending problems with the ship or their enemies.

"Colonel Young?" Eli gripped his forearm. "Before I uncork Rush, I wanted to give you a heads up."

"Go ahead."

"See, here's the thing. The last pod, it can't be salvaged—"

"You're sure."

"Yeah, trust me. It's toast."

"I know you did your best, Eli. Sometimes the deck is just stacked against you. Look, you're going to take my pod. These people are going to need you, when Destiny makes it to the new galaxy."

"Uh, they're going to need you too! And this isn't why I woke you up, just so you could do the self-sacrifice thing. I've got a plan!" Exasperation was plain on Eli's face. "I thought you should know what was up."

Everett eyed him. Eli shrugged. "I need Rush to take a look at the database. His Ancient is better than mine, and, okay, I know I said I was smarter than he is, and I'm not taking that back, but it wouldn't hurt to have another pair of eyes looking this over. He _is_ brilliant. Don't tell him I said that, okay?"

"You think you can trust what he tells you?"

"He doesn't want anybody to die, Colonel. Not if it can be helped." Everett saw that belief play across Eli's face. His chin had jutted up, and his stance had tightened. He must think that Young was going to argue that Rush was a heartless pragmatic bastard who would cut everybody else's throat just to save his own.

Right. Everett might have believed that once about Rush, but that was before he'd watched him disarm the bomb planted on Lisa Park's back, warning everyone else to stay on the ship. Heard him comforting her. Before he'd seen Rush's eyes after he'd come back from the trek across the rocky plateau after tracking down and killing that Lucian Alliance son-of-a-bitch who'd killed Ginn and Amanda Perry. Pragmatic bastard, sure. Heartless, no.

He might make an exception if it came down to either Young or him, though. And despite everything the two of them had been through together, Everett couldn't trust the man.

"Eli. Just what is this plan?"

"Two people can share one pod. It's sort of a last measure kind of thing, but it's possible. Probably. In a theoretical way." Eli raised his eyebrows, his expression almost comical.

"But you're not sure," Everett said slowly.

"I'm mostly sure. I can show you the statistical probabilities for an optimal versus non-optimal outcome-"

"Please don't. Sounds like you're giving it a thumbs up. Good enough for me. But Rush and I are going to share a pod."

"Colonel? Um, are you crazy?" Eli looked disbelieving. Everett didn't blame him.

"No. Eli, I'm just going to motivate the man to do his best work by putting us together. I think that'll increase my own chances at surviving. And I don't want you two sharing. These people," he made a gesture towards the other pods, "are going to need at least one of you when they get out of these pods."

"In other words, don't put all of your eggheads in one stasis pod. Okay, I see your point. But. There's going to be, like, no personal space in that pod. And you know Rush and personal space."

"We'll manage, Eli."

"I got a bad feeling about this."

"Eli."

"Just sayin," Eli sing-songed.

"Wake him up." Eli walked up to the control panel and pushed a button. The blue light within dimmed and the door slid up, leaving the occupant exposed. A moment later, Rush was staring down at him, dark brown eyes vague and confused and honest for a change as he blinked several times. Everett told himself wryly that he might as well enjoy that look while he could. Soon enough the secretiveness that defined Nicholas Rush would return to the man's features and once again he'd have the devil's own time deciphering what was really going on inside Rush's head.

x x x

Rush's gazed sharpened. "Mr. Wallace, Colonel. What's the problem?" He quickly came down the steps and stood before his stasis pod, eyebrows raised.

Everett wasn't surprised at Rush's question. The man was quick and good at reading people.

Eli said, "Problem, yes. So, we're going with Plan B. And you're not gonna like it."

"The last pod was hopeless, then?" Rush pushed his long hair back and tucked a few strands behind his ear. Everett crossed his arms and waited for Eli to finish briefing Rush. He expected Rush would make a case for Eli to share a pod with him, not Rush. That wasn't happening. He wanted Eli to have the best shot at making it through the void.

"Yes. But you know how we threw out the idea of sharing pods? Not so much anymore."

"I see." Rush glanced at him, and Young nodded. "You've evaluated some new data?"

"Yes. According to the database, sharing _is_ possible. It's not preferred, though. Might have some drawbacks, so it was uh, considered only appropriate for people who were really close to each other. And only in an emergency."

"Close to each other." Rush's eyes flicked between Eli and Everett.

"The term I read translates to 'kindred souls.''' Eli attempted to look nonchalant, but by the way Rush narrowed his eyes towards the kid, he wasn't buying the act. "You should take a look," Eli said.

"Yes, obviously." He walked briskly to the console at the head of the corridor and beckoned Eli over. He looked at Everett. "Colonel? You've decided, have you not, which two of us will share?"

"You and me, Rush."

"I see."

"Not going to complain about it?"

"That would be pointless. It's too risky to put Eli and I together. For the sake of the crew, an' all." Rush's eyebrows quirked up, and a small smile that bordered on being a smirk tugged at his lips.

Everett worked to keep his own expression calm. Rush could be such a smart ass, but although that was a dig at their former agreement to get along – not that Rush had kept it, not until Everett had to beat the shit out of him again – he wasn't wrong.

He played it straight. "That's right. For the sake of the crew."

"We're not kindred souls, Colonel."

"Not even close."

Rush had made room for Eli at the console, and Eli was bent over it, working the controls.

"Aye, too right."

"Not going to insist that Eli and I share?"

"As I said, that would be pointless. There's risks to sharing, even if we don't yet know what exactly. O' course we want Eli to have the best chance at making it through."

Everett shot Rush a look. It was just so damn hard to read the man, sometimes. Everett honestly couldn't tell if that had been Rush's brand of sarcasm or sincerity. It usually took something huge to happen to Rush before his usual guardedness was disrupted enough for Everett to see the man's true emotions.

"So, I'll let you two work. I'm going to report in to Homeworld Command."

Looking up, Eli said, "Really? Do you think they'll still have someone on stones duty? They won't be expecting us for three years."

"Mr. Wallace, if I could please have your attention back? " Rush said softly. He usually did speak softly. Unless he was having a meltdown. Still, softly spoken words from him usually carried a razor's edge of disdain within the polite phrasing. Eli was more than used to the man's ways, though.

"Um, cool your jets." He fiddled with the controls for another few seconds. "Here's the section I wanted you to review. Colonel, if you do get through, can you find out how my mother's doing?"

"I'll try, Eli. Rush, any messages?"

Rush didn't bother to answer him, just shook his head slightly.

Of everybody on the ship, only Rush had declined to use the stones to say goodbye to anyone who cared about him back on Earth. He'd never asked for personal leave when he'd been based on Icarus, either.

If it hadn't been for Amanda Perry, Young might have believed there hadn't been anybody in Rush's life back on Earth who he gave a damn about, or who gave a damn about him.

He left them to make his report, walking down the cold dark corridors, the flashlight only giving glimpses of the muted colors of the floor and walls. Destiny was mostly asleep, like the crew. Young expected that the three of them would need to go into the stasis pods within a few hours, in order to not dip into the reserves of power Destiny needed to take them to the next galaxy.

x x x

He was back within an hour, having left a note for whoever swapped with him to just stay put in the stones communication room. He'd spoken with both O'Neill and David Telford. O'Neill was his usual sardonic self and let Everett know that the uproar about the meaning of the structure Rush had found within the cosmic background radiation was still hot and heavy. The hand of God, or an intelligence present at the beginning of time, Everett didn't really have an opinion about who or what was behind it.

Plenty of people who knew about the Stargate program wanted to claim what Rush had brought to light for their own political or religious agenda. There was also a strong faction who accused Rush of pulling a hoax in order to gain support to continue the mission. Funding another attempt to dial into Destiny was going to be expensive. Icarus type planets were almost non-existent. Rush's detractors accused him of falsifying the Ancients' data in order to keep Destiny a priority.

And Rush had lied before. Everett had never gotten why Rush had planted the false information about an Icarus planet in Destiny's database. Within the year he had told the crew it would take to reach it, the real story would have come out.

He just didn't understand the man. But ever since the truth about the bridge had come out, Rush had been cooperating. But whether or not he was using that to cover up some other agenda, Everett didn't have a clue. The best he could do was to keep a close eye on the guy.

David brought the conversation back to Rush as they sat together in the stones room at Homeworld Command. After Everett had given him an update on the current problem with the stasis pod, David had dismissed the other people in the room.

He put a hand on Everett's shoulder for a moment. "I'm going to give you a head's up, Everett. If Destiny's crew makes it across the void in one piece, then I think there's going to be a formal inquiry into Rush's actions on Icarus and on the ship."

"Who's pushing for this, David? Besides you, that is."

"He's pissed off the wrong people. And that's entirely on him."

"And you. What's your beef with him?"

"He knows more than he's saying about how the other version of me died."

"He wasn't even there. Scott can vouch for him. And you've been at him since you first used the stones and showed up on Destiny. You already had a history together. Not a good one, apparently."

"Sorry, Everett. That's classified."

"He's a lot of work, I'll grant you that, but he's saved the crew's lives. We need him."

"He put them in danger in the first place. That hasn't been forgotten or forgiven."

"By Mrs. Armstrong, I bet. She's got a lot of pull."

"She lost her daughter and her husband because of that bastard. She's not alone. Don't try to defend him, Everett. The best thing you could do for yourself and your people is to let him get thrown to the wolves."

"Throw him to the wolves. You think that's the kind of man I am?"

"How did he get left on that planet, Everett? Stuck in a rockslide, was it? Yes, I think you can cut him loose. You've done it before. Don't let him take you down with him when he goes under. And he's going to go under. The bastard's gonna be done and when we're able to send new crew back and forth to Destiny, he's going to be out. Prison is where he's going to end up."

"Not if I can help it. But give it your best shot, David. We'll take this back up in three years."

"He's not worth it, Everett. He's going to just keep screwing you and the crew over. He's dangerous and he needs to be taken out."

"He's a member of my crew and he's under my protection."

"He won't let you protect him. He never lets anybody protect him."

"Like you? You resent him because of that?"

"Classified, Everett."

"I might not know the details, but you wanted him to do something your way and he refused, didn't he? And that still pisses you off."

"You can't tell me he hasn't done the same to you."

"He's a lotta work. But I think he's worth it. And now that I think about it, it's been quite a while since he's said something arrogant. Actually, he's been pretty quiet."

"A leopard doesn't change his spots; I'll never believe Nicholas Rush has stopped being a user and actually cares about those people on Destiny."

"I'll be the first to say he's made mistakes. No. He was the first to say he'd made mistakes. He can be a pain in the ass, and I don't have a clue how his mind works, but he's a good man at heart. I'm not wrong about that. And you might remind Chloe's mother that it was Rush who saved her daughter from those aliens. He took a risk with his own life to do that."

"He's got you snowed. I can't believe that you actually were going to stay with him on Destiny."

"I would have continued the mission. I told him that."

"I just wanted to shake you and the rest of the crew that chose to stay. And I'm sure he did something to cause all of you – well, your doubles – to not make it to Earth."

"I don't believe that for a minute. You didn't see him, well, the other Rush, the one that went down with the earlier Destiny, you didn't see his face, his eyes, when he stumbled off the shuttle. He was devastated, David."

"Well, we'll never know what actually happened, will we. Everett, just watch yourself. I consider us friends, even after everything with Emily, and I don't want to see you get burned. Rush will be dealt with, don't get in the way. Please."

"You know I'm not gonna step aside and let him be railroaded. He's under my authority and I'll deal with any discipline issues."

"Have you done that? If so, it's been conspicuously absent from your reports."

"I would say he's been on probation. But after we make it out of the void, I'll take it up with Wray and Homeworld Command about any charges. Hopefully that will keep your allies out of our affairs."

"You're compromised when it comes to him. After this conversation I see that very clearly. You need to step back and let this inquiry happen, Everett. He won't be on your conscience that way."

"Not gonna happen, David. He's mine to deal with, mine to protect."

"Are you even hearing yourself?"

"You owe him, you know. If it hadn't been for him coming to me about the glimpse of your memories he had when you were using his body, you'd still be the Lucian Alliance's favorite bitch."

"That's irrelevant."

"You know, I didn't believe him about you. I thought he was the mole and was trying some scheme. If I'd believed him I would never have let him play secret agent man. He was a math professor, for heaven's sake. He wasn't trained to deal with the Lucian Alliance. They tortured him."

"Everett, that changes nothing."

"Oh, I think it does. I got Varro's take on it. He was very impressed with Rush. He withstood being shocked over and over for a long time. Even after Rush finally admitted who he was and they forced him to help with dialing the ninth chevron, he just played along with them. He didn't give them any new information on how to dial us without tearing apart the planet."

"So he's a tough little bastard. I know that, okay. I think he's always been that way, hiding it behind that harmless eccentric professor facade. I keep telling you, Everett. He can be dangerous."

"But not to Destiny's crew. Not even to me. I'll grant you he was a manipulative little shit before. Maybe he'll be one again. But he doesn't want to harm me. He never did. It wasn't him who threw the first punches between us, and I think a part of him kept holding back. He killed a Nakai with his bare hands, you know. He never turned that level of ferocity against me. He should have because I can't say the same about myself towards him. But that's over. I'm gonna learn to understand that man and get him to trust me if it's the last thing I do."

"You won't. I can see that I'm not going to get you to let him go. Just, watch yourself."

"I'm gonna get back. Eli and Rush are probably done with the database."

"I can't believe you're gonna share a pod with Rush."

"As long as Eli doesn't take any kino footage, it'll be fine. Goodbye, David."

He'd picked up the stone again and found himself back on Destiny. God. David and Rush. What he wouldn't give to hear the story on those two. And neither of them would ever say a word to him about what had happened between them.

x x x

He thought about what he'd told David as he walked back to the stasis pod corridors. Maybe he'd overstated his case. Because despite what he'd told Telford, Rush had a way of making him doubt the man's motives, even when it was more likely that he hadn't been trying to pull a fast one.

The Rush who had returned from the wrecked Destiny had seemed like he was being honest with Young. He'd been traumatized, shaken. He hadn't appreciated any of the smart ass looks or comments his Rush had made about their fucked up situation.

And yet...

When his Rush had run back through the gate right before the other Destiny fell into the star and broke apart, falling to his knees on the deck, he couldn't help but think how convenient it had been that they could scavenge the parts they needed from the dying Destiny. The mission would continue.

He'd looked down at Rush's face and just knew that the man was keeping secrets from him. But the other Destiny being unable to handle the stresses from dialing the gate within the star couldn't have possibly been his fault. How could the other Rush have engineered a jump in time?

A fucking jump in time.

Rush was a lot of things, but he was no Time Lord. He couldn't call up a solar flare, like some space wizard. That flare must not have been caught by Eli or Brody or Volker or Park. Unless, he'd blinded the sensors? No, that was too crazy to even contemplate. And it assumed that the rest of the science team were all morons, which they were not. Even if he was sure from the expression on Rush's face sometimes that the man thought they were.

Rush was by himself at the console when Everett walked over. Rush looked over at him, his attention no doubt caught by the sound of Everett's footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. Immediately he stepped back a good four feet, his hands held up in front of him.

"Colonel?" he asked, his wariness evident in his posture and tone of voice.

"Relax. I'm sure it's against some galactic code to belt a Time Lord."

"Have you stopped by Brody's still then, for a wee drop?" He reached up to massage his shoulder muscle. Everett had seen him do that a thousand times. Never seemed to help loosen his muscles, though.

"No, I haven't," Everett said. Although if this scheme worked and both he and Rush lived he planned on knocking back a couple of shots. Hell, maybe he'd even drag Rush with him to Destiny's makeshift bar.

"An' Time Lord?" Rush asked skeptically.

"Get Eli to explain what a Time Lord is."

"Oh, I know that well enough. Why are you calling me one?"

"Never mind. Are you two ready to proceed?"

"Soon. If you don't care?" he indicated the console where Everett was standing. Apparently he wanted Everett to grant him personal space. Perversely, Everett wanted to do the opposite.

"Just get over here. We're going to be in that pod together for three years. I think you can manage to stand next to me."

Rush's expression turned blank. He moved carefully, eyes watchful, until he and Everett were shoulder to shoulder. His breathing was a little fast and if he couldn't settle down they might have a problem. Well, better to test that out here and not deal with Rush having a panic attack within the small space of the pod.

"I said to relax. Consider this a dry run before we step foot in the pod together." He put an arm around Rush's shoulders and pulled him a little closer.

Rush scowled and tried to step sideways, but only succeeded in bowing his body away from Everett. "We don't need any bloody practice," he hissed.

"Oh, I think you do. Look, just try to relax." He pulled Rush back against his side again.

"Get t' fuck off me, ye heid case!" Rush shoved him and Everett let go.

It was never a good sign when Rush let his usual Scottish accent slur and quicken like that. Greer had told him once that Rush said that he'd grown up poor in Glasgow. He figured when Rush sounded like that he was using his childhood speech. And it meant that Rush was starting to lose it.

Rush moved away and glared at him. Yeah, Everett knew that look. It had never intimidated him but it used to reduce Volker to an insecure heap of scientist, but – but actually, from what he'd overheard – Volker was holding his own now against Rush. He'd said some pretty cutting things to Rush, and Rush hadn't lit Volker on fire with his searing wit. Instead Rush had just stayed quiet and let Volker rip him a new one. Huh. Everett hadn't really considered what this new behavior was saying about Rush.

Rush ran his hand through his hair, and Everett just held his hands out, like he had when he'd been in the body of a Nakai and trying to get through to Rush that he wasn't going to hurt him. That he was trying to help him.

"Hey... He drew out the word, making it sound as soothing as he could.

Rush crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

Everett slowly approached him. When he was close enough to touch Rush, he stopped. "Look," he said quietly, "we've got to do this. I get that this makes you uncomfortable. What would make it easier?"

Rush glanced at him, but dropped his eyes and stepped back. "Nothing." He sighed. "We'll step inside the pod and Eli will seal us in. It'll be over within seconds. There's no need to engage in a farce about hugging beforehand."

"Why'd you get so rattled, Rush?"

Rush shot him a disdainful look.

He didn't enlighten Everett on what had freaked him out. Everett wanted to question him, to try to learn _something_ about this man, but if you pushed Nicholas Rush too hard then he'd explode in your face like C-4. And Rush in a fit was something he'd like to avoid at the moment. So he made a conciliatory gesture with his hands and watched Rush's shoulders slump a little, and yes, that was relief that had raced across the man's face for a brief moment.

"C'mon, Ace. Let's get this done."

Rush nodded, and they moved back to the console, Everett being careful to not overcrowd his chief scientist.

Lotta, lotta work, was Dr. Nicholas Rush.

x x x

Eli joined them at the console and Rush moved aside, pointing to a passage in Ancient. Eli skimmed it and then looked over at Rush, eyes rounded. "Seriously? You guys are going to-"

Rush grimaced. "No. Not to that extent. I'm going to check the pod. Then we'll give this a try."

Rush moved at his usual brisk pace down the corridor and began working. Everett watched him fiddle with the controls, running a diagnostic, probably. And he had been very careful to not catch Everett's eye before he'd left. He was keeping something from Everett. Again.

Stretching, he filled Eli in on how his mother had been handling things this last week. She and Sharon, Camile's partner, had held a support group for the families of the crew who had been read into the program.

Eli had smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, Colonel."

"Eli. What did that passage say?"

"Oh, just... gave some directions on uh, the positions the two people sharing the pod should take." Eli wasn't meeting his eyes, either.

He rubbed the heel of his hand over the arch of his eyebrow and sighed. "Just read it to me. Don't abbreviate or change it around. Read it to me straight."

Eli made a face. "Yeah. You're probably gonna love this as much as Rush does. But, um, I think he's in denial about it, just so you know. And can I just point out – once _again _- that everybody on this ship should learn Ancient, not just the scientists. Well, Matt's learning, and Chloe, but really, she's part of the science team now, but hell, even Becker should be taught. Who knows what kind of recipes the database might hold-"

Everett interrupted him. "Eli, stop stalling. Just read the damn thing."

"O-kay. Uh, don't kill the messenger." He cleared his throat and looked down at the script that filled the screen, all sharp angles and dark lines. "It starts with a warning. 'Only those who uh, deser- um, desire to be as one with a – not sure exactly how this translates, close friend, lover, bonded or kindred soul – should join hands within the chamber of etera dormata, um, sleep, eternal sleep, for upon awakening their thoughts shall be open to each other and thus verimas, uh, truth, the truth shall be evident. They will – need, or maybe require?- habe clementiam, to have mercy upon each other and cool the pain of fire and so be sure, traveler, of your decision. Once the stream joins the river it cannot flow alone.'"

"You're saying that Rush and I are going to end up connected in some way." Everett massaged his forehead with one hand. He could feel a headache waiting to ambush him. Jesus Christ.

Eli nodded. "Yeah, maybe. But, remember, it's really, really possible that's only true for Ancients. You and Rush, well."

"Rush is a natural carrier of the ATA gene. A very, very strong carrier. It's one reason he was recruited into the program. It's helped him become an Ancient tech expert. And I was given the retro virus. It took."

"You're kidding me, right?" Eli's eyebrows shot upwards. "Rush never said he was a carrier."

Everett snorted. "You're surprised that Rush kept something private? It wasn't relevant to our situation here. He told us right away that Destiny's tech was pre-ATA gene compatible. Although I've wondered if his affinity with the ship was enhanced in some way because of his DNA."

"So when Destiny messed with your head?"

"I don't know. It's possible the retro virus made it easier for the ship to do those simulations."

"So... you and Rush might be able to mind-meld. Scary, huh?"

"You bet. But we don't have a choice here."

"Awkward," Eli muttered, drawing the word out.

"Rush knows this, doesn't he?" It would certainly explain why Rush had uttered "fuck," with such feeling earlier, his eyes skimming the script, and then ignored him when he'd asked what was wrong. _Nothing. Don't worry about it, Colonel._

"His Ancient is really good." Eli shot a quick glance at Rush. "There's _no_ way he would have missed the whole 'My mind to your mind' thing.

Everett put a hand on Eli's shoulder. "Read the rest. Let's get this done before Rush works himself into a state worrying about it."

"Um, there's pictures?"

"Pictures?"

"Recommended positions. Ah, here." He scrolled down to a new page. "Just touch this button to go to the next screen. I think I'll let you look them over and I'll just go..." He pointed towards Rush, who was on his knees in front of the pod control panel and scribbling something in a ragged little notebook.

Eli's face was turning red. Oh, great.

"Go. Help Rush with the final checks. I'll be there in a minute."

Eli left, but not before throwing him a sympathetic look.

Everett touched the button. His eyes widened when he saw the next screen.

He and Rush were screwed.

x x x

"Eli, Rush, we good to go?" Everett said calmly when he walked over to the pair of them, both crouched on the floor looking into the open panel. He'd settled down after he'd first looked at the console screen. So, okay, it looked like touching was going to be needed. How much, now that wasn't as clear.

He'd stared at the illustrations and thought about what might happen to him and Rush. Maybe some kind of telepathic connection. Maybe nothing at all. Eli was right. They weren't Ancients. Anyway, it didn't matter. In order to live they had to share the pod. They'd sort out the rest later.

"Um, yeah." Eli said.

Everett offered his hand; Eli grasped it and levered himself up from the deck. Rush fastened the grill back over the panel, and, ignoring Everett's extended hand, stood up with his customary energetic gracefulness.

"Eli will be monitoring from the console." Rush tucked his hair behind his ear, and massaged the back of his neck. He glanced at Everett. "The controls are locked so that the pod won't engage until the benchmark is reached. We'll, ah, we might hae t' experiment a bit to reach the correct level."

Everett held back a snort with effort. Experiment. Well, let Rush call it whatever he wanted, if it would let him accept that the two of them were about to get up close and very personal with each other. If Rush wasn't going to mention that they very well might end up tied to each other in some way, then he wasn't going to say a word either. He was fine with avoiding that conversation for now.

"Let's get to it, then. Eli." Everett turned and held out his hand. Eli shook it, then shrugged and hugged him. Everett patted him on the back and they stepped apart.

"Hugs are good," Eli said. "More people should hug each other. Hugs are manly. Very very manly. Like when your team is winning, and you know, all of us are on the same team. Destiny's team. So it's really legit cool for say, two team members to hug each... oth... er." Rush was glaring at Eli.

"Yes well, thank you, Mr. Wallace, for your observations."

"I'll just." Eli indicated the console with his thumb.

"Yes, yes. Kindly wake us up first afterwards, will you?" Rush had stopped glaring at Eli. He wasn't looking at him at all, pretending instead to focus on the control panel. And he was pretending. Everett didn't have much of a handle on Rush, but after all the time he'd spent observing the man in person or in the kino footage, he could tell this much: the man was pretending; he was feeling uncomfortable and possibly embarrassed.

Eli shot Everett a look, and then, a look of determination on his face, he pounced on Rush and wrapped him in his arms, Rush's face against Eli's neck. Like that, it was clear how much taller and broader Eli was than Rush.

Rush startled and then tried to push Eli away. "Eli, wha' are-"

"Shut up. Nobody touches you. You think I haven't noticed that? And you're human, Rush. You're like those failure to thrive babies. You need human contact, so just shut up. We're doing this."

"I don't nee-"

"Yes you do. Man, for somebody's who's a freakin' genius, you can be really dumb."

Rush sighed but after that first initial reaction he hadn't struggled against Eli's hold. Slowly Rush moved his arms around Eli until he was returning the hug.

"Alright, lad. Now let go o' me. Colonel Young is waiting."

Eli tightened his hold for a few seconds and then he stepped back, freeing Rush. Rush ran his hand through his hair, tousling the shaggy mop even further into disarray. He punched Eli's arm lightly, a rueful look on his face. "Cheers, man. Go on now."

He turned away from Eli and stood on the far side of the pod, waiting. And not looking at either of them.

Eli gave Everett a look dripping with significance and nodded towards Rush. "Good luck," he mouthed at him. Then he pointed to a radio sitting inside the pod. "It's on one-way. I'll let you guys know if what you're doing is improving the readings."

"Thank you, Eli. We'll see you on the other side. Oh, and what Rush asked about? I agree. Pop us out right after Destiny wakes you up when we reach the next galaxy."

"Sure thing, Colonel." Eli smiled at him, then walked down to the console. A moment later his voice came over the radio. "Colonel, Rush. I'm in position. I'll monitor vitals signs and the... other stuff."

Rush rolled his eyes. Everett moved next to him. Rush looked at him and he seemed to have regained his equanimity.

"Well, Colonel. Best we start. We'll do a baseline of just standing one in front o' the other and see if that's sufficient."

"And if it's not?"

"We'll move closer."

"And if that doesn't do the trick? You had a bad reaction when I put my arm around you. You think you can keep it together now?"

Rush didn't answer him. He just looked at Everett, emotions warring with each other until stoicism won out.

Everett gentled his voice. "Look, I know this is hard. Usually when I lay my hands on you it's to beat you down. You've probably got some instinctive reaction to not get so close to me."

"Usually? I remember a friendly slap on the shoulder during our early days on Destiny, but that was just the once."

"Don't you remember waking up in my bed after you killed Simeon? How do you think you ended up there?"

Rush started massaging his shoulder again. "I was a rude bugger an' commandeered it? I was pure dead tired when I came back from that planet. You insisted on dragging me with you to your room, to interrogate me about what happened and... And somebody came to the door and got you. I was waiting on you to return and then I don't remember anything after that till the next day. You weren't there." He shrugged. "I left you a note sayin' I was sorry to have crashed on your bed."

"Well, you didn't make it there on your own steam. I found you asleep on the floor near the door."

"Why didn't you just wake me up and send me off?"

"You were too deeply asleep. Exhausted again, like when you had that meltdown and passed out and slept, what was it TJ told me? Ten hours? And she said you probably needed another eight but we needed you, so I told her to wake you up."

"The first time we flew through a star."

"Yep. So there you were on my floor, dirty and passed out. I picked you up and carried you to the bed, I unlaced your boots, pulled off your clothes, and covered you up. I washed your shirts, beat the dust out of your jeans." Everett decided not to tell him that he'd also wet a cloth and wiped the blood and dirt and sweat from Rush's face and body. And the faint trace of tear tracks.

"Why?" Rush seemed honestly baffled.

"You needed somebody to take care of you and I didn't feel like sticking TJ with it."

"I see." Rush pushed a hand through his hair again. He must do it a hundred times a day, Everett thought idly.

Everett put a hand on Rush's shoulder, testing him. "And you took out the bastard who killed our people. Everybody appreciated that." Rush had stiffened but he hadn't thrown off Everett's arm. So, progress.

"Appreciated?" Rush snorted, shaking off Everett's offer of thanks. No surprise there. The man could not take a compliment or any expression of gratitude. "I killed that man against your direct orders. I thought you were going to throw me into a makeshift cell and lose the key."

"There was no way you could have managed to get Simeon back to the stargate on your own. He'd have jumped you." Everett let his arm drop back down to his side.

"He was wounded. Greer shot him, but he was able to walk. Did no one tell you that?"

"Rush, you've got more guts than you've got muscles. He'd have gotten the upper hand and killed you. You're not trained to fight, especially against a Lucian Alliance elite soldier."

"That wasn't why I shot him," Rush said acidly, in a soft tone.

Everett shrugged. "It's still true. And that's what I put in my report, that you had no choice but to kill him or leave him a dangerous enemy at our back."

"Shaded the truth, did you?" Rush asked mildly.

Everett narrowed his eyes. "I've been taking notes from an expert over the last damn year."

"Yes well, you might find that comes back on you."

"Like nobody believing anything you say anymore, sure that there's some hidden motive for your own gain in everything you do or say?"

Rush looked at him, his eyes dark and unreadable. He said, almost in a croon, "Something like that."

"Eli told me about the little chat you two had before you and I went into stasis. That you told him you offered to stay out and fix the pod, but you knew I wouldn't believe that Nicholas Rush would sacrifice himself for the crew, and so I would do it instead. Neither of us counted on Eli."

"You couldn't take the chance that I would refuse to kill myself for the rest of you lot."

"Well?"

"I was sincere. But I'm a good enough chess player to know what your reaction would be, that you wouldn't trust me. I knew you'd turn me down and sentence yourself to death, because you don't know a bloody thing about how to fix the pods or anything else on this ship. And that would have been entirely on you, because I offered." Rush had spoken rapidly, voice rising slightly, his hands slashing through the air, his posture stiff and straight with outrage. "I offered!"

Everett's irritation grew and exploded his good intentions to keep Rush calm. He raised his own voice. "And we know now that the last pod couldn't be fixed. So what would you have done, Rush, if you hadn't found out about the double occupancy last chance that Eli came across in the database? What would you have done with the time ticking away? Shot yourself? What about hanging? Go down to the infirmary and take TJ's sleep meds with a chaser of Brody's booze? Just what was your plan to kill yourself?"

Rush stared at him and then his shoulders straightened, his chin went up. "Why bother telling. You don't believe that I'd have done it."

"So you might as well lie, is that it? Or keep things a secret. Another damn lie of omission."

"Wow. You've just got me all figured out, don't you?"

"No. You're as much a damn mystery as those structures you found in the cosmic background radiation. Which, you know, a lot of people on Earth think you're lying about that."

"I'm aware."

With an effort Everett calmed down. He spoke gently this time. "What were you going to do if the clock ran out on you?"

Rush didn't say anything. He just looked at Everett with that same damn expression that had convinced him that Rush had known Destiny would be fine flying through a star. The expression that had persuaded him that the other man had flat-out lied to the rest of them, leaving them to think they were all going to die.

He clenched his hands. Every time he saw that look on Rush's deceitful face he wanted to wipe it off.

Rush looked at Everett's fists. He raised his eyebrows. "Going to knock me around again, are you? Go ahead, get it out of your system, and then let's get this bloody well done. We shouldn't keep Eli waiting."

"Don't tempt me like that. It won't do either of us any good to have another fight."

"Well, it won't do me any good. You'll win again. But the release of adrenaline from fighting, well, afterwards people calm down and they become more reasonable, in my experience."

"In your experience. Just how many times have you gotten yourself beaten up because of that smart mouth of yours or for pulling some stunt?"

Rush sighed and started massaging the back of his neck, his long hair hiding his hand. He didn't say anything, but that same expression crossed his face again. God damn it.

"You're a lotta work, Rush." He had to calm down. Rush was the volatile one and Everett couldn't keep the man on an even keel if he himself was ready to blow up.

Rush kept his mouth shut.

"All right," Everett said quietly, "you don't have to answer that question."

Rush shot him an incredulous look. Everett could just imagine his thoughts. _As if you can just give me orders and I'll do as you ask. Not bloody likely._

Rush said, tightly, "We need to work the problem, Colonel. You can harangue me later."

"You've got a raincheck on that. And also? You're going to learn some hand-to-hand. You're more of a street fighter. You use whatever's around you for a weapon, I've noticed. Bouncing a rock off my head, for instance. But you're little and that's a disadvantage if you don't know some pretty good hand-to-hand."

"I'm not little," Rush said, affronted.

"Now you're just in denial."

Rush pushed his messy hair off his forehead and gave him another one of those baffled looks. Everett fucking loved putting that expression on Rush's face.

Everett swallowed down a grin. "So, working the problem: if I have to touch you, can you just relax about it?"

Rush shrugged, and said, "I'll manage." He waved towards the pod. "After you."

x x x

_I'll manage._

Right. Rush had managed until he'd had a damn flashback. The closed-in space, the glass door, had triggered him into a waking nightmare of being back in a tank on the Nakai ship.

Eli had warned them that Rush's pulse was starting to zoom up, but by then Rush was pounding on the glass door, flattening his hands against it.

"What the hell? Calm down. Just open the damn door."

"No! NO! The water!"

That was when he had figured out Rush thought he was back on the alien ship. He was oblivious that the means to escape was right next to him. Everett reached around him and pushed the release. The door slid up and Rush fell out, tumbled down the stairs and twisted on the floor looking up, panicked, as Everett stepped out.

"Get t' fuck away from me!"

In a weird deja-vue moment that duplicated the events on the alien ship, Everett held out his hands, fingers splayed open. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Colonel Young, remember? Rush, you're okay. You're on Destiny."

A look of confusion passed over Rush's face. "Chloe!" He jumped up to his feet, still watching Everett. Then he turned and ran down the corridor. Fast. Rush lived up to his name. Still, the way he was headed was a dead-end. Everett moved out to the middle of the corridor, hoping he could catch Rush if he was still lost in his head when he came back towards him. He really wasn't looking forward to chasing the man all over the ship.

But Rush slowed down when he'd reached the last of the pods. Turning around, he started a slow jog, glancing into each pod as he passed them by. Everett walked slowly towards him, not wanting to spook him.

They met at Chloe's pod, Rush with both hands on the glass door, looking at her. "She's okay, Rush. Do you know where you're at, who I am?"

Rush nodded, sweat trickling down his face. "Okay, Ace, I'm gonna need to hear a verbal confirmation here. Do you know where you're at and who I am?"

The other man said dully, "Destiny. In one of the corridors that house the stasis pods. You're Colonel Young. Chloe is here, she's all right. We got away from the aliens and came back to the ship."

"And when was that, just, uh, for the record."

Rush looked confused and then yanked up his shirts, felt his chest. "You made them take out the transmitter."

"That's right. So, just for the hell of it, tell me about the last thing you remember."

Rush brought up his fists and pressed them against his temples. He was still breathing fast. "That, shite, that was'na real. I thought I was back in the tank. And then the tank broke and the alien was looking at me. You were looking at me and I heard you in my head. But it was'na real."

Everett remembered how terrified Rush had looked when Everett had freed him and he'd landed on the alien ship deck in a gush of water. Despite having left the man for dead he couldn't help but feel empathy for him for what he'd endured with the blue aliens.

He was feeling that empathy again right now. Poor bastard. He spoke soothingly,"That's right, sport. It wasn't real. You just had a doozy of a flashback. Now, can you tell me the last thing you remember before you flashed back to the alien ship?"

Rush lowered his hands and his eyes were still wide and dazed. "I... and you. In the pod, and we didn't reach the right readings and you were behind me and then you moved closer and we waited and Eli said it wasn't enough. I was staring at the door, and then I guess it happened. The flashback. Damn it. Thought I was done with those."

"Did I trigger it?"

Rush shook his head. "I don't think so. I think it was the closed-in space and the glass door. Maybe the door more than the space."

"It's all right. Okay. When we try this again, you face me, not the door."

"Yes, alright."

Everett looked at him and the way his fists were opening and closing. "Look. I'll get us through this. Just trust me. I'm not going to hurt you." He slowly moved closer to Rush. "I'm going to put my arms around you now. Just take deep breaths and let them out. You're all right."

He slowly drew the other man into a loose hug, and when Rush didn't freak on him, he oh, so, slowly drew him in closer, until there was maybe two inches of space between them. He could still feel Rush trembling, and his breathing was still faster than Everett liked.

Everett started talking about how much he'd like to have new socks, how he kept patching up his old ones but every time he turned around he'd poked another hole in them. He shifted one arm so it was securely around Rush's lower back and with his other hand he started carefully sweeping up and down Rush's back, gradually increasing the pressure until he was firmly rubbing the other man's back.

Rush's breathing had slowed down. Everett moved him a little closer, so that their chests were touching. Rush gave a long sigh and Everett could feel the remaining tension in his body dissipating away. He moved his hand up to Rush's neck and started massaging the tight muscles there. Rush let his forehead rest against Young's shoulder, his arms a loose circle around Everett's waist.

Everett left the topic of socks and moved onto the subject of shipboard clubs. It was Wray's idea, but he thought it was a good one. There was already an informal group who liked to play cards together, and some folks wanted to start a choir. There was interest in a bible study group, and of course, Chloe's yoga classes.

Rush said quietly, "Chloe's time shouldn't be squandered on teaching people how to stretch and bend. We need her to run calculations."

"Well, Ace, I think she could do both. She likes Yoga and she's a good teacher. And it's probably a break for her to do something physical. " He worked on a difficult knot between Rush's neck and shoulder.

"Why do you call me that?"

"What, Ace?"

"Yes."

"Oh, because I think of you as our ace-in-the-hole."

"Even though you don't trust me," Rush said evenly.

"I meant what I said at our farewell dinner. You've come through for us, Rush, despite all the crap you've done. You might not be able to calculate as fast as Eli, but don't think I haven't noticed it's you who comes up with ideas that saves our asses."

Rush shook off the compliment. "I don't. Eli and the science team are better."

"I'm gonna let that last part you said go for now. About not trusting you – that's because you haven't been entirely honest with us. Or in some cases, honest at all. That's got to stop, Rush. I don't know why you have these impulses to keep information to yourself or to just plain lie. You've got to get over that habit."

Rush whispered, "I'm aware."

"You know, at times we work really well together. When you're not fighting me."

"I'm not after your job," Rush said tiredly. "You can have it."

"What do you want then?"

"To be able to do my own job. Don't hold me back. It makes me wild."

"I don't want you to do something rash and irresponsible. You know, you're like a kid who's been given the key to a candy store. There's things you might get into that could be bad for you. For the rest of us, too."

"I'm no a child. And I don't do things on a whim."

"I have to disagree with you on that one. You're impulsive."

"Maybe it seems that way. But I assure you, Colonel, that I weigh every action very carefully, the risks and the benefits. I'm just fast. I can see how things are going to unfold before other people even see the problem."

"And I suppose you think it slows you down too much to explain what you're doing to the rest of us."

"To be blunt about it, yes."

"Okay. Good talk. Do you think we can tackle the pod now?"

"Yes. And, well, thank you." Rush raised his head and looked at Everett.

Rush had nice eyes, when he wasn't glaring at somebody. They were really dark. Almond shaped and kind of mesmerizing.

Eli and some of the others liked to designate crew members as various characters in the video games they used to play. Everett had heard them having fun about it a few times, especially after knocking back some of Brody's paint thinner. They all agreed that Rush could be a wizard, with his brown longish hair, pointed chin, sharp angled cheekbones and thin build.

The others idly would discuss the way Rush walked with a swagger, brisk and confident. The intense way he would competently tackle a problem, even when he didn't come up with the answer himself, but paved the way for one of the science team to come up with the solution. The way he'd written his equations on the damn walls of the ship like he was casting a spell. Somebody who was sort of, part of, the fairy world. Someone who was hard to understand and harder to find if he didn't want to be seen. He didn't know if Rush knew about their little game. Everett could see why they thought of him that way, though.

"You're welcome," he replied to Rush, a little surprised that Rush had thanked him. He loosened his hold on Rush and they moved a little apart.

He slung an arm around Rush's shoulder and tugged him forward without any resistance from the other man. Ah, if only all their interactions could be this easy, in step with each other to accomplish a goal.

x x x

"Everything okay now?" Eli's voice greeted them when they stepped back into the pod, Everett first, facing the door and then Rush stepped inside facing Everett.

Everett picked up the radio and answered him "Yeah, Eli. We're going to give this another shot. Thanks for giving us some space."

"Sure. I mean, I could tell you two needed some alone time."

Everett put the radio down while Rush rolled his eyes. They looked at each other, and Rush almost smiled, the corner of his mouth turning up just a little. Everett opened his arms, pleased that Rush moved closer without hesitation. He wrapped his arms around Rush and Rush tightened his own arms around Everett's waist.

They stayed that way for several minutes. Everett noticed that Rush had closed his eyes.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Hey, Colonel Young? Rush? That was better but still nowhere close." Eli sounded apologetic.

Rush opened his eyes. "Well. I think we both know what we have to do now."

Everett reached over and hit the pod's release button. "Let's try it with shirts and boots off."

Rush turned and stepped out of the pod, Everett following him. Everett knelt down and began unlacing a boot, and Rush sat down on the steps. He made quick work of his own boots and slid off his socks, tucked them into his boots and set them down near the pod. Then he unfastened his vest and folded it, placing it on top of the boots.

Everett watched him, struck by how matter of fact he was acting. Rush noticed he was watching.

"What?"

"You seem to be okay with this now."

"Yes well. Not like we have a choice, is it." Rush unbuckled his belt and slid it free. His jeans were loose around his hips without the belt to cinch them tight. He pulled off his brown T-shirt and folded it.

"You're very pragmatic." Everett unfastened his jacket and pulled it off, neatly folding it as well.

"So I hear. I believe you yourself have called me a pragmatic bastard on at least one occasion."

"Were you eavesdropping?"

Rush smirked at him.

"Rush." His voice came out a little lower, an edge of a growl to it that he hadn't intended.

"Don't worry about it, Colonel. It wasn't like you were holding a secret meeting. As I remember, you were in the mess eating dinner with some o' the others." He pulled off the long-sleeved Henley that a year ago had still been white.

Everett removed his black long-sleeved T-shirt and tidied up his pile of clothes. He glanced over at Rush, to see if he was finished undressing. Rush was bent over, rolling up his jeans.

"You look like a beach bum like that."

"Aye. I suppose my hair and beard just adds to the look."

"Yep." He frowned, looking at Rush's back. Several quick strides had him next to the man, and he pulled him up, startling Rush.

"Colonel?"

Everett took him by the biceps and looked hard at his chest, then spun him around and examined his back. Rush didn't fight him.

"Who beat you up?"

"Well, I wouldn't know."

"I want names. And I want you to tell me what happened." He tightened his grip on Rush, resisting the urge to shake an answer out of him.

"Want all you like. Why do you care anyway? It's not like you haven't done worse. You were even thinking about teaching me another lesson about an hour ago."

"So are you saying you deserved this? What did you do to piss off whoever did this?"

Rush shrugged. "This is irrelevant and distracting. We need to get back in the pod and see if being bare skin to bare skin will make the difference." He shook loose from Everett's hold and ran his hands up and down his arms. "It's bloody cold in here."

"Rush," he gritted out in frustration, "you're going to tell me about this."

"Oh, am I?"

"You're a member of this crew. If you're being hurt I want it to stop."

Rush gave him a thoughtful look. "I might believe you about that. Or at least that you didn't authorize it or condone it. This time."

"This time. This has happened before, hasn't it?"

Rush shrugged and wrapped his arms around his bare chest.

"You can't stop it. So don't worry about it. They make it clear each time that this is just punishment. They know the ship needs me; they won't kill me."

"And you thought I've been giving whoever this person is a green light to do this? Thanks a lot."

"Well. Your disapproval of me has never been any sort of secret." Rush shifted, cocking one hip forward in a familiar pose, arms crossing across his chest. "I thought you might have acted the part of Henry the II and wished that someone would give me what I deserve."

"Henry the... Are you talking about Thomas Becket?" Rush was broadcasting defiance with that stance and Everett wanted to jerk him right out of it.

"Forget about it, Colonel. I'm ready to do this. Would you please step inside the pod?"

"Not until you tell me what the hell has been going on." Everett said firmly, giving Rush his best no-nonsense look.

They waited in silence, a showdown between them, Everett prepared to stare him down until Rush gave in. A minute passed. Then three or four. Six minutes. Eight.

Rush threw up his hands. "Fine. If it will get you to move your arse into the pod, I'll tell you."

"I'd appreciate it."

"Yes, yes." He looked past Everett, avoiding his eyes. "So sometimes, after something has happened that's been deemed my fault, I get jumped by three or four men – I am fairly sure they're men – who have their faces covered up."

He paused, but didn't make eye contact. "Is that sufficient for you?"

"No. Go on."

"Ah, well then. The wankers hold me down and bind my hands and feet, and stuff a rag in my mouth. They throw a blanket over me and sometimes they carry me somewhere else and sometimes they don't. They kick me and hit me and tell me I'm a piece of shit that they're not going to kill because I'm needed. They let me know what I've done wrong in their eyes. And that I might as well save my breath about complaining because it won't change anything."

"And you just went along with this?"

Rush did look at him finally. "I never have any proof except a bunch of bruises. Besides, I'm not deaf, you know. Most of the crew would thank them for teaching me a lesson."

"And you thought I was behind it."

"I did. Or at least that you were turning a blind eye to it. I've revised my hypothesis though. I think you wouldn't subcontract the work out but do it yourself if you were angry wi' me again."

"I'm not going to hit you, no matter how aggravating you get."

"Ah." He shaded his voice into something dark, almost seductive. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Colonel."

"If I make a promise I do keep it. I won't hit you, but that doesn't mean I won't make your life miserable in other ways."

Rush made a sound edged with derision. "_That_ I already knew. You're one to reward and punish as you please, aren't you then. Awarding me double rations or keeping me chained to your side when as the Ancient tech expert I should have gone to that first seed ship to assess its potential usage."

"You're still pissed that I tried to do something nice for you, to show my appreciation? Although I was wrong about that since you'd lied to us about flying through the star. And you're right about the seed ship. I was punishing you since I knew damn well you were keeping something from me. I was surprised that you didn't throw a fit about that, just pouted a bit."

"Pouted! I did no such thing."

"Yeah, you did. Stuck your lower lip out like you were five, although you hid it away again fast enough. And you practically scorched Eli with the looks you were giving him since he was excited about the data being sent over from the seed ship."

"Yes, well. None of that is relevant now. Can we please proceed?"

Everett ignored the question. He moved closer to the other man and pressed down on one of the large dark purple bruises, one that was edged with green, right above Rush's beltline and near his belly button.

Rush flinched. "Shite. Stop that." He stepped a little away from Everett.

"These are around a month old, I would guess. And if you're still sensitive now, then they hit you really hard. What were you being punished for?"

Rush kept silent.

"Rush," Everett growled.

Rush made an annoyed sound. "If you must know, it was Park going blind."

"That wasn't your fault."

"They disagreed. They thought I could have come up with some way to override the door and let her out of hydroponics before the star blinded her. They thought I just didn't care enough to try."

"What else have you been punished for?"

"I don't see the point of telling you. You say I'm pragmatic and I agree. So drop this inquisition and let's focus on the problem at hand."

"Rush, you're going to tell me everything about this."

"You're a damn stubborn man. If I don't care about it, why the hell should you?"

"This could escalate, and you could be seriously hurt. I already knew you lacked common sense, and now I learn you've let yourself be a punching bag and think it's no big deal? There's going to be some changes when we get to the new galaxy. I'm putting myself in charge of keeping you in one piece. And that means that you _are_ going to tell me every detail about these beatings. There's going to be an investigation."

"You are not putting yourself in charge of me! I'm no for having that!" Rush gave him that affronted look again.

"Wrong. And since you're being so damned uncooperative, I'm going to be checking on you every other day for any new bruises. And if you won't raise up your shirt on your own, I'll have the two biggest airmen on the ship help you."

Rush stared at him, speechless. Then he scrubbed his hands over his face, ending with looking at Everett between his splayed out fingers. Another way he had of hiding away, Everett supposed.

"Look, Rush. You're not seeing the big picture here. If you're being harassed like this, how many other people are being intimidated? I can't let a gang of thugs take condemning their shipmates into their own hands. What if it was Eli that they blamed for some perceived mistake? What about if they think Chloe is still a danger to the ship?"

Rush sat down sideways on the bottom step leading into the pod and pulled his knees up close to his chest. He wrapped his arms around his legs and Everett was reminded of how he'd tucked himself up like that on the seed ship, after crawling away from Everett after had he almost murdered Rush.

"Fuck," he said, sounding exhausted. "You bloody well will have your way, won't you?"

"It's for the greater good, you ought to appreciate that. So tell me, what were you punished for?"

Rush sighed. "For dialing the ninth chevron. For lying about the Icarus planet in the database. For keeping the bridge secret. The first star we flew through. For not telling about the transmitter in my chest. For Franklin sitting in the chair. Park's blindness. Riley. I think that was all. Now for the love of god will you drop it and work this problem?" He indicated the stasis pod behind him with a nod of his head.

"I'll table it till later. You're not done. If you don't remember many details, Camile can hypnotize you."

"Yes well, hypnosis never worked on me when I was trying to quit smoking. So I doubt very much she would have any success." He looked at Everett and shivered. "Can we try this now? Or do you want to discuss every last thing you don't approve of about me first?"

He was trying for sarcasm, Everett knew, but his words just sounded tired. The man looked miserable. He wondered how much sleep Rush had gotten before going into stasis. He knew how worn out he felt still, so apparently being in stasis didn't substitute for actual sleep. It was freezing in Destiny's halls. Heat as well as light had been mostly turned off.

He had a high cold tolerance and he was starting to feel pretty chilled. Rush was shivering again, and his shudders didn't stop; he was being affected by the lack of heat more then Everett. Not surprising, though. There wasn't much to the man. Had he always been this thin?

"Okay, we're done here. Just expect to have a long talk when we wake up."

"Yes, yes. You've made yourself quite clear." Rush got up and waited by the side of the pod while Everett rolled his own trouser legs up.

"Everything about this ship, everything that pertains to the safety and the welfare of this crew is my concern, Rush. _You_ are my concern," Everett said firmly. "_You_ are going to learn to work with me and the rest of the crew if it kills me. You don't have to like that. You do have to accept it."

Rush's expression morphed into the one that Everett disliked so, so much. That closed off, secretive look, his eyes promising deception as he remained mute. Everett took a deep breath. He was not going to become angry.

He wasn't.

x x x

Rush kept his mouth shut inside the pod. He just nodded when Everett suggested that Rush place his bare feet partly over Everett's feet, close enough so that their lower legs were touching. That position unbalanced Rush somewhat, so Everett tightened his arms around him, holding him snugly against him. Rush closed his eyes again and let Everett take his weight. He was holding his body stiffly, though. His skin was cold and he was still shivering.

"Guys, that's a lot closer. Can you uh, do something... more?" Eli sounded embarrassed.

"Try to relax against me," Everett suggested. "I'll hold you up. And maybe put one hand up higher on my back and the other lower. Maybe this works on how many points of contact there are between the partners."

Rush shifted from locking his arms around Everett to the new positions, his hands freezing cold against Everett's back. He slipped out a small relieved sound as his hands began to warm. He still was holding himself stiffly against Everett's chest, though.

They waited for Eli's report in silence.

"A little better. Um... maybe you should take it to the next level."

"Look, Rush, try not to be so stiff. Okay, I'm going to shift an arm down to hold your weight and I'm going to rub your back with my other hand. So don't freak. And lay your head against me."

Rush put his head down, and Everett lifted his shoulder a little, nudging Rush so his face was buried in Everett's neck. His breath and beard tickled a little.

Rush sighed, but Everett could tell he was trying. Rubbing his back seemed to help him become more pliant.

"Still not there," Eli interrupted the silence between them. "Look, do what you're doing for maybe ten minutes, and if these readings don't increase to the magic numbers, then Colonel, you at least know what you have to do. And I promise, my lips are sealed."

Ten minutes. Okay, they could do ten minutes. Rush's skin was soft, smooth. He found that he was lingering over some of the bruises on Rush's back, skimming the edges of them, laying his palm over them as if he could form a protective barrier between them and who? His unknown assailants? Destiny? Destiny had left her own marks on Rush, breaking through his skin at his temples, leaving him in a coma after using the neural interface chair. He flashed on the other Rush's injuries from the ship's consoles blowing up, leaving him with cuts and burns on his face and hands.

After a while Everett asked, "Are you feeling warmer?"

Rush nodded against him.

"Is this the silent treatment? My ex-wife used to pull that on me."

"No," Rush said softly. "But what is there to say? I don't want to start up anything else between us, so being quiet seemed a better option."

"Oh, I think we've got something to discuss. Ever play spin-the-bottle or seven minutes in heaven when you were a kid?"

"No."

"How about drunken make-out sessions with random strangers in bars?"

"No."

"So you only kiss people you like?"

"I gather that's about t' change."

Everett laughed. "What about guys? Ever kiss a guy before."

"Yes."

"Well, I have too."

"Colonel, I've given you a Glasgow Kiss already."

"When was that?"

"When I head butted you during our fights."

"You really are something else, you know that, right?" Everett said, amused for the moment.

Rush shrugged. "Actually, I hear that I'm a lot of work."

x x x

"It's been ten minutes." Eli said, carefully nonchalant. "I'll just, uh, keep on monitoring, okay?"

There was silence between the two of them after Eli had spoken. Everett kept moving his hand on Rush's back in comforting circles. Well. No point in stalling any longer.

"Okay, Ace," Everett said briskly. "Let's just go for it."

"Fine," Rush replied, and kissed Everett's neck, startling him.

Somehow he wasn't expecting Rush to take the lead on this.

One of Rush's hands had crept up and his fingers were gliding through Everett's curls, touching his head, massaging it, while he continued to kiss Everett's neck.

This wasn't bad. As long as he just concentrated on the sensations of fingers and lips and the drag of stubble on his skin and not on who was giving it to him, it wasn't bad at all. Pleasant, even.

But then Rush ruined Everett's mindless enjoyment. He stretched up a little and moved both of his hands to Everett's face, the other man's clever and quick hands caressing him even as Everett was forced to take even more of Rush's weight to keep him balanced against Everett.

"Colonel Young," he breathed out, and then he was kissing Everett on the mouth, and god damn it, Rush was focusing on him like he was some new fascinating Ancient tech that Rush had just discovered.

Rush slid one hand around to the back of Everett's neck, and he played with Everett's mouth, alternating small kisses at the edge of Everett's mouth to pressing their lips together, his mouth soft and welcoming and still tasting of the tea he must have drunk before going into stasis the first time.

Everett broke their kiss, pulling back a little so he could look into Rush's dark wizard eyes. This felt like passion. This felt like honesty. And trust. If he loosened his hold on Rush even by a little, the other man would fall back, unbalanced.

Rush's pupils were dilated. God. He wasn't faking this, he wasn't being deceptive. For this one moment, Everett knew exactly where Rush was and what he was doing.

Rush kissed him again, his mouth opening a little. Was this just an impulse on Rush's part, to treat Everett like a lover, or was this him doing his lightening fast calculations again and deciding that all their arguing and fighting had held something else that they'd both ignored?

Damned if he knew. What he did know was that he was going to make Nicholas Rush whimper with desire before he was done with him and they were frozen in time.

It was intoxicating to think of finally, finally seeing Rush do exactly what Everett intended him to do. No side agenda known only to the other man. No ambiguity about his actions.

And he was taking charge right now.

It was like powering up the FTL drive. Rush startled a little as their dynamics shifted to Everett's mouth dominating him, Everett's hand cupping Rush's ass, dragging him up and even closer.

He made this kiss aggressive, a mute order that Rush surrender to him; and Rush did, opening to him, laying down his defenses.

Letting Everett in.

Everett hardened, sexual desire rising in him and it had been so long since he'd let himself feel it.

He tightened his hold on Rush more, sliding his hand under the jeans that hung low on Rush's hips. He relished how Rush was pinned against him, fingers gripping the soft, warm curve of Rush's ass. Felt Rush's erection against his belly.

Kissed him again and again, fast strikes that left Rush panting and gasping for air before Everett plundered him once more.

Rush reacted so beautifully, off-balance, doing just what Everett was demanding of him and oh, Everett was going to treasure this memory because he knew capturing Rush like this would be a fleeting thing and once they were out of this pod Rush would revert to his secrets and shuttering away his thoughts. Not like now, where it was crystal clear what he was feeling and thinking.

He gripped Rush's long hair at his nape, pulling it back and exposing his throat.

"Nicholas," he growled, taking the name without it being offered to him. He said it with the same intonation he had been using for the last damn year when he would be so frustrated with this man, this small man who took up twice as much space as he was entitled to, so much so that Everett had always colored the name "Rush" with all his anger and frustration and worry.

He kissed Nicholas' neck, and sucked hard on the tender skin, knowing he was going to leave a bruise that would tell everyone who saw it that Nicholas Rush had been claimed long enough to leave the proof.

Nicholas made a desperate, pleading whine, and Everett felt flooded with satisfaction at the sound.

He was kissing Nicholas' mouth again when he heard Eli's voice counting down. He knew he should break them apart.

He didn't.

Blue light flashed.

x x x

To be Continued.

Author's note: Eli quotes Starwars and Star Trek.


	2. An Unexpected Visitor

**Chapter One: An Unexpected Visitor**

_Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain_

Wes shifted on his feet and glanced over at him from the other side of the embarkation room, subtly twisting his arm so his watch face was towards Mike.

Mike rolled his eyes and nodded. _Yeah, message received, numbnuts. I can't wait for this shift to be over, either. There's a beer and a steak dinner with my name on it down at Riley's Pub and maybe this time we'll get lucky with some fine ladies._ It had been a long week, and as soon as their gate shift was over, he and Wes were heading down the mountain for some R & R.

SG16, the last team scheduled to come back to Earth today had arrived an hour ago through the gate, strolling through like they owned the place. SG16 and SG18 in particular were a bunch of smug bastards. If he ever earned a place on a stargate team, Mike wouldn't be so condescending towards the regular joes in the program.

Even though Mike knew they'd been expected, he'd still focused his weapon at the iris, ready to blow away any invading intruders. He'd never had to deal with enemies pouring through the gate, but all the previous foothold attempts were required reading for any personal pulling gate room duty.

Man, what a bunch of fubared situations. Aliens stepping through the gate and snatching a female sergeant and killing the other guards, a crystalline life form that had mimicked General O'Neill and came back with SG1 as pretty as you please, invisible phase-shifting aliens, man it all sounded like bad sci-fi movies. But it was real.

Fucking real.

Sergeant Patterson, crusty old bastard who'd been with the program since it had started, made sure every Marine on gate duty knew just how fucked up it could all go in just minutes.

Thank God they had the iris now to keep out unwanted visitors. Mike had heard the sickening splats as some unlucky wanna-be invaders met their ends against it. Good riddance.

He snuck a look at his watch. Thirty more minutes and then they were out of here.

He kissed that idea goodbye the second the inner circle of the stargate started to spin and the chevrons all lit up, bright orange on the stargate rim.

The klaxons sounded, the high pitch confirming that they had a situation.

"Unscheduled activation. Awaiting G.D.O code," was announced, the speaker from the control room sounding artificially calm.

Chevrons stayed lit.

The klaxon continued to blare, the sound echoing off the dull metal walls.

Mike knew that when this was over he was going to have a bad headache. But not now. Now, adrenaline was overriding everything else and he kept his weapon aimed directly at the iris, a gray bulls eye.

Reinforcements arrived and took their places, all the drills they'd done making their movements automatic.

They waited for the sound of matter ending its existence against the iris.

Nothing.

The iris slowly started to open.

"This is an unscheduled activation. No G.D.O code has been sent. Repeat, this is an unscheduled activation. No G.D.O has been sent. We have a potential foothold situation. Lock down commencing now."

The shield over the control room windows lowered, and the exits from the room locked with an audible click. The large overhead door, which Mike and half of the other guys had dubbed "the garage door" rolled down, sealing off the immediate gate area.

Mike felt his heart hammering as the iris opened completely.

The event horizon whooshed out into the room and subsided into a puddle of blue, beautiful and deadly.

He'd never gone through the stargate, had never touched that unearthly legacy of the Ancients.

He stared, waiting, his body tense.

The puddle started to ripple.

"Hold your fire until the word is given." General Landry's voice rang out.

A small figure emerged from the event horizon, stumbling and unbalanced.

It moved like it had been shoved through the gate. It was naked. It looked human, but Mike wasn't buying that it really was a little boy.

The event horizon ended and the stargate stood empty again.

It looked up, froze for three seconds, and then dashed down the ramp, arms swinging and legs pumping. It was running for all it was worth towards a door, but when Marines moved to block it, it changed trajectory and zigzagged towards the other door.

When it was again blockaded from the other exit, it turned and sped back towards the gate. It ran up the ramp and jumped through the stargate, falling down and rolling away from the structure. It ran to the back wall and turned, eyes darting as it took in the Marines guarding the doors.

The Lt quietly ordered half of the men, including Mike and Wes, to advance on it. They fanned out, blocking it from coming from around the gate.

The thing saw that it was going to be trapped. Its chest was heaving, and blood was smeared on its knees and palms.

It looked afraid. It bit its lip, and balled up its fists.

"Move in on it, but stay back about ten feet. I'll try to talk to it," the Lt said.

They tightened their line and it slowly slid sideways against the wall until it had moved into the corner, its wide eyes watching them, its thin body shivering.

The Lt, Mackie MacPherson stepped much closer and pointed his weapon at it. Mike watched it drop into a crouch, protecting its head with its hands.

So far the thing hadn't made a sound.

Lieutenant MacPherson said, "Who are you? What do you want?"

It looked up at the Lt, its messy hair falling into its eyes. It looked scared and baffled.

MacPherson repeated the message. It didn't respond, just kept that confused, terrified look on its face.

The Lt said, "I don't think it can understand us, and since it came through the stargate my words should have translated. I'm going to restrain it."

"Sir?" Mike said. "What if it resists?"

The Lt spoke quietly into his radio, then announced softly, "The General has authorized us to zat it if it gives us any trouble. Nickels, Chan, use the first setting only. We want it alive, at least at this point."

The two Marines stepped forward and aimed their zats at it.

The Lt pulled out plastic restraints from a pocket. He nudged the thing with a boot; it flinched and looked up at him. He said, "Hey you. Last chance to speak up. Who are you, where did you come from, how did you open the iris like that? Why are you pretending to be a kid?"

It didn't answer, but it must have known what was coming because it started to shake, its dark eyes going distant. The Lt handed his weapon off to Murphy.

"Anderson." Mike looked at the Lt. "Take these." He handed the plastic restraints over and Mike gave Wes his weapon. "Secure it for me."

He grabbed both of its tiny wrists and held them tight against each other. Mike stepped forward with the plastic tie, but the thing wiggled like an eel and sunk its teeth in the Lt's arm.

"Son-of-a- Chan, zat it as soon as I'm free." The Lt yanked his arm free from the thing's mouth, blood pearling up on his skin where it had broken his skin.

Chan hit it with a charge and it jerked, blue light flickering over its body as it collapsed.

Mike quickly secured its hands behind its back and restrained the thing's feet. He looked down at it. It was damp with sweat, but Mike saw its skin pebbling up into goosebumps. Its face still carried a trace of baby fat, making its cheeks rounded, but its chin was pointed and it had a mop of brown-blond hair. It was small, about the size of a four-year-old. It had scars on its body, the one on its chest the most noticeable. The thing looked like it had been under a surgeon's knife.

The Marines waited until it was loaded on a gurney, the Lt detailing four of them to accompany the medical staff and stand guard in the infirmary.

Mike knew it was in for a battery of tests to find out what exactly had come through the gate, human or alien.

But he was betting on alien. Mike had a couple of nieces and nephews the apparent age of the thing and not one of them would have reacted the way it had done. Babs would have started bawling and Jimmy wouldn't have recognized he was in danger and start running away in three seconds flat.

No way was it human.

x x x

Carolyn was reading through lab results while she waited for the General to arrive at the infirmary, idly reaching up and touching her hair. She still found it odd that it was so short now, barely touching her ears.

She'd already sent a preliminary report to him regarding the foundling that had showed up on their doorstep, but her father said he'd discuss her findings with her at 19:00 hours at the infirmary.

She was betting that after she'd updated him on their visitor, he'd invite her to a late dinner and switch from being the CO of Stargate Command to her father. Her once estranged father. They had a much better relationship now after five years of working together. She'd learned to let go of her childhood resentment against the parent who had failed her.

She laid a hand on her rounded belly. She wanted her child to know his grandfather. It was important to her, and to John.

Thinking about her baby brought her thoughts back around to the small child lying unconscious and restrained on a gurney, a blanket tucked around him.

And he was a child, not something mimicking a child. Or at least his blood work, X-rays, MRI and PET scan supported that theory. However, he wasn't entirely human, it seemed. His brain was... odd.

According to the Marines who'd seen him in the gateroom, he hadn't made a sound and didn't seem to understand them.

Who had sent a naked, defenseless child through the stargate? With no way to identify the origin of the incoming wormhole, their efforts to find his people and return him were going to be difficult.

She stood and stretched, walked over to the isolation room where they were keeping the child.

He had no signs of illness, nothing in his blood work or urine showed a contagion that might spread, but she wasn't taking any chances. She'd run decontamination procedures on him and the gate crew, much to the Marines' disgust. They were all on twenty-four quarantine.

She nodded at the four guards stationed on either side of the door to the boy's room. There was no actual reason she needed to enter to check on him. His vitals were being monitored and she could see him perfectly well through the window. She entered the area adjacent to his room and donned a haz mat suit anyway.

She laid a hand on his forehead and made sure no leads had come loose from where they were taped to his skull for the EEG that was currently recording his brain activity. She was going to bring in one of the top names in neurology to interpret this data because she'd never seen anything like it.

The boy was unconscious. She pressed down on his chest with her knuckles and he shifted, reacting to the discomfort.

She was relieved. He was so small to have been stunned by a zat. One of those could take down a moose, or Teal'c, let alone someone who only weighed thirty-two pounds.

She pulled away his blanket, tugged his gown up and looked him over critically. Nothing had changed since her last examination. She touched the scar on his chest. Now this intrigued her. His heart had appeared normal, and the scar's position was to the left side of it. It seemed unlikely to her that he'd had any sort of heart surgery, but the scar wasn't superficial. Someone or something had cut deeply into this child's muscles.

She fixed his gown and blanket, tucking him in. She wondered if he had parents, and if so if they had any idea about where their son was right now.

He was intelligent; he had reacted quickly to a dangerous situation. He had good reflexes, judging by how he had been running and jumping before he was taken into custody.

She smoothed his hair, pushing the long bangs away from his face. She told herself to remain detached, that the jury was still out on whether this little entity was dangerous, was some kind of bait, or trap. If he had forced the iris to open, then he was powerful in ways they rarely saw. And if someone or something had done it for him, then he was a pawn in someone's power game. Maybe a gift, maybe a warning. Maybe a weapon to destroy them.

But right now he looked like a little boy who'd been hurt. Who'd bled and who'd been terrified of men coming towards him with guns.

Carolyn traced his lips with a finger, and wondered if he would ever be able to communicate with them.

"Doctor Lam?" Marcy asked, over the intercom.

"Yes?"

"General Landry is here."

"Tell him I'll be right out after I go through de-con."

x x x

"Carolyn." Hank smiled at his daughter. "How about letting your old man feed you some dinner while your husband is off world?"

She pretended to think about it, which amused him. They both knew that she'd agree. "Well..." She looked at him coolly. "I've been craving Thai. As hot as I can get it."

"You got it, honey. How's Junior?"

She laid her hand on her belly. "He's been doing flips."

Hank grinned. "You were the same way. Drove your mother nuts some nights when she wanted to get some sleep."

He drew her into a one-armed hug, warm against his leather flight jacket.

"So." He said briskly, putting aside being a father in place of being the SGC commander.

"You read my initial report?" Carolyn had also subtly shifted from being his daughter to being the Chief Medical Officer of the SGC.

"Yes. But recap it for me before moving on to any new data."

She nodded and motioned for him to follow her. They stopped outside the isolation room their visitor was currently inhabiting, and she pointed to the monitor.

The camera was focused on their uninvited guest, and he was asleep or passed out.

"I'm not going to get too technical. All of that will be included in my recommendations."

"Is he human?" Hank said, staring hard at the kid, wondering if he really was what he looked like.

"Yes." She arched her eyebrows, cluing him in that she was going to qualify that statement. Of course this wouldn't be clear-cut. This was Stargate Command, after all.

She went on, "But he's something else, too. He resembles a male Caucasian child, brown-eyed, with light brownish blond hair. Physically he's the size and weight of a typical four-year-old. His bone density scans and a dental exam indicate he's actually around six years old, give or take a few months on either side of that estimate."

"No tattoos, clan markings, or ritual scarring that could identify his people, I suppose," he said.

"None. And he's not Jaffa. No pouch to carry a Goul'd larvae."

Hank rubbed the back of his neck slowly, thinking. Yes. "There was a girl SG1 brought here once through the gate. Nirrti had implanted a bomb inside her and abandoned her, knowing we wouldn't leave her on that dead world on her own."

It was before his time as CO, but he'd actually met the girl a year ago. Cassandra Frasier, adopted daughter of one of the fallen heroes of the SGC, Doctor Janet Frasier. Cassandra was in med school now, following in her mother's footsteps. She'd attended the ceremony for General Carter's promotion.

"He's cleared," she said. "And there's no naquadah in his blood."

"Good." He raised his eyebrows. "I gather since he's in quarantine that he's not cleared yet from being a carrier of something nasty to spread to the rest of us."

"I'm keeping an eye on him for that, but nothing turned up." She slipped off her lab coat and hung it up on wall hook.

He nodded and looked at the kid, his features magnified by one of the monitors. He had thick lashes and a mop of hair. He looked harmless. Hank hoped to God he was. He'd hate to give the word to take him out.

Carolyn said, "He has some significant scarring on his body, most noticeably from an incision on his chest. That one looks surgical to me. He's also got a scar on his thigh from being knifed."

"Knife scar?"

She gave him a knowing look. "I've seen enough during my ER days and here to know one when I see one."

"So he's been abused."

"Perhaps," she qualified. "He also has several healed broken bones. His right index finger. A spiral fracture of the right ulna, and the humeras of the left arm."

"So either he's the kind of kid that jumps off roofs or somebody's been hurting him," he said.

"He's not showing any signs of malnutrition, though. And his skin was clean and unbruised, except for what he got from his welcome to the SGC."

Hank raised his eyebrows at her. "He became hostile and aggressive. I gave the green light to use the zat."

"He was scared." She frowned. "He's lucky he's going to wake up from that severe of a shock."

"We didn't know what he was, Carolyn. Given the same set of circumstances, I'd authorize it again."

She looked evenly at him. "I know." She might not like to acknowledge it, but his daughter got her cool-headed approach and ability to make the hard, pragmatic decisions from him.

"Other than still being unconscious, he seems healthy. Normal heart, bowel, and lungs. But I'm going to give orders to start an IV for fluids before we leave." She walked over to her desk and took her purse out of a bottom desk drawer.

He followed her. "So, what's not-so-human about him?"

"His brain." She shrugged. "I've never seen anything like it. His EEG readings, the PET scan, the MRI. Even while he's unconscious there's such a high level of activity. But, it's uneven. And there's a lot more abundant connections between subcortical and cortical regions in his brain than is typical for a child his age. I'm bringing in a neurologist to consult."

"What about his DNA, what does that show?" He looked at his watch. They should get moving if they wanted to get there before the Bangkok House closed.

Crossing her arms, she said, "Really, when it comes to DNA it depends on what we want to look at. Screening for specific genes is a lot faster than mapping out his whole genome. We've done enough to establish that he is basically human. Maybe he's got some other genes that Earth humans don't, but that's a whole new research project in itself."

"Right. Maybe he'll decide to talk to us and all of this won't be necessary. We can just send him back to his people," he said.

"Doctor Jackson might be able to help," she said. "All the off-world languages he knows? Maybe the boy will talk to him. I've requested that he come by after SG1 returns tomorrow afternoon."

"It sounds like you've done all you can do for tonight. Want to get out of here now?"

His daughter nodded. "Let me leave instructions first. If he becomes agitated I'm going to order something to help him sleep. He needs to rest."

Hank watched her talk to the medic on night duty. Another doctor was on call within the base, so Carolyn could go home after their dinner.

She needed her rest, too.

x x x

Carolyn dropped her purse into her desk drawer and pulled up the records on the boy from yesterday. She took a sip of herbal tea, wishing it was coffee.

The boy's condition hadn't changed much overnight. He wasn't in a coma, but his EEG showed abnormal patterns of Delta waves slowing from intermittent to continuous, during his sleep cycles. The high levels of activity between the subcortical and cortical regions continued also. It was very strange.

She was relieved when the EEG shifted to a more normal pattern, indicating that he was waking up.

Donning the protective gear, she went into the isolation room and pulled up a stool to sit next to him. She took him off the IV. When his eyes opened she smiled at him and soothingly stroked his arm.

His dark eyes stared at her and then glanced around the room, as much as he could see from his prone position. His breathing quickened and he yanked on the restraints. She stilled his arms.

"Hello. I know things are strange for you right now, but just stay calm. If you can do that, then I'll take these off of you."

She touched the restraints and then pantomimed removing them. She pointed at him and made a prone gesture.

He looked at her, blinking. She undid his right wrist restraint and when he stayed quiet, she helped him to sit up.

"That's right, young man. Stay calm like that and I'll take off the other one."

He tried to touch the EEG leads on his scalp, making a puzzled face, but she guided his hand away from them and shook her head.

She said "No," and shook her head again.

He raised his hand partway and then shook his head, imitating her, and dropped his hand. He raised his gown, and looked at the catheter and she shook her head. He scrunched up his face in distaste, but he left it alone. Touching the protective suit she was wearing, he looked at his own hospital gown, then back at her.

She smiled to see the question in his eyes. There was no doubt in her mind, he was bright.

"This protects me from any sickness you might carry. This afternoon, if you stay healthy, then I'll take it off and we'll move you to a better room. You're quite the mystery you know. Let's see if you can talk, or imitate words."

She pointed to herself. "Carolyn. Can you say that?"

He didn't say anything, only bit his lip. She repeated herself, saying her name more slowly, making the three syllables distinct.

Making a gesture that it was his turn now, she waited. He opened his mouth, and then shut it. His lip started to wobble and she saw the shine of tears begin to gather in his eyes.

She wasn't a demonstrative person and was fully aware that a lot of acquaintances considered her to be something of a cold fish. She cared for her patients fiercely, but she was not the touchy-feely sort.

So she surprised herself by loosening the other restraint and sitting down on the gurney. She lifted the boy into her lap and began rocking him.

He was crying now, tears rolling down his face and his breathing hitching.

No vocalizations, though.

She murmured kind words to him, and gave him what comfort she could, continuing to rock him slowly in her arms.

He cried himself back to sleep. She laid him down but left the restraints off, a demonstration of trust that she hoped would ease the awful sense of loneliness she'd felt from him. His breathing was still erratic, catching from that silent sobbing, and it broke her heart.

He needed a name, and if he couldn't tell them his name or if he didn't know it, then she would give one to him, and not the John Doe one that was currently on his records.

Maybe Daniel would find a language this little mite would understand, but she was doubtful that he would be able to speak it.

She checked his catheter. The next time he woke up, she'd see if he would hold still and let her remove it. If not, she could put him under for a short time.

Smoothing his hair, she thought about a name for him. Something that would have personal meaning to him, not just picked randomly from a page of names.

She thought of how he'd bit Mackie, fighting off a man that outweighed him six times over. How he'd arrived through the stargate.

She'd find a name that suited him.

x x x

He slept for a little over two hours. He cooperated with her about removing the catheter although his hands tightened into fists.

He sighed with relief when she finished. She showed him how the toilet worked and he understood her.

He knew what a spoon was for, and used it competently. She wasn't quite ready to trust him with a fork, since it could be used as a weapon. The four guards stationed outside the isolation room were still a necessity.

They knew nothing, really, about the boy.

She took the bandages off his hands after he'd eaten his late breakfast of oatmeal and a banana, apple juice and toast. He'd been hungry, that much was obvious.

They weren't too bad, typical scrapes for boy of his age, but she poured hydrogen peroxide over his palms anyway, the runoff catching in the basin under his hands.

He watched, fascinated, as the liquid frothed on his skin. She washed it off and went to smear some antibiotic cream on the wounds, but he pulled his hands away.

"I'm just going to put some medicine on your hands," she said, soothingly. She put a dab on her own arm and showed it to him.

He shook his head and didn't relinquish his hands. Well, it seemed like he understood the concept of 'no' just fine.

It looked like this would be their first showdown. She held out her hand and said sternly, "Sorry, young man, but you need to let me treat you."

He shook his head.

She could force him, but she didn't really want to do that. She snapped her fingers, instead and repeated her order in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

He shut his eyes instead, his face scrunched up in concentration, his hands tucked up under his arm pits. She didn't disturb him, not wanting to grab his hands when he couldn't see what she was doing.

When he opened his eyes, he looked exhausted. She moved her hand slowly and pulled his left hand free.

She turned it over, ready to put on the ointment and bandages again.

She started, shocked, then pulled his other hand free.

It was the same. She took the bandages off his knees and ran her finger over the smooth skin.

The wounds on his hands and knees were gone. In their place was healthy skin.

He smiled at her with a cocky grin, pleased with himself. Then he yawned and his eyes closed.

He laid down and was asleep within moments.

Alien, she thought. He really is an alien.

But he was a child in need of protection, too.

She intended to make sure he received it.

x x x

He slept for seven hours, and was still groggy afterwards, eating his food slowly, and pushing away half of it.

She drew blood from him again, and he let her do it without fighting her about it, although he stuck his lower lip out when the needle pricked his arm, looking at her reproachfully.

There was nothing in his blood or urine that indicated a virus or bacteria that would warrant continued quarantine, and it had been twenty-four hours since he was brought into the infirmary. She took off her de-con suit.

She could have delegated taking the EEG leads off his scalp to a nurse, but other than clearing the gatreroom team from quarantine, which she had already done, the infirmary was quiet. She wanted to keep assessing the boy, seeing if there were any other talents he would manifest.

He squirmed quite a lot, and made a variety of disgusted faces as she unhooked the EEG and washed the gook out of his hair, but was as cooperative as anybody could expect from a six-year-old.

He was starting to pick up some English on the comprehension level as she explained the parts of the body to him; he was soon able to point to his eyes or his hair when she would say the word.

Becca brought in some clean clothes for him, and she showed him the shower and soap. He didn't want her to help him, pushing her towards the door; after making sure the water wasn't too hot, she left him alone.

He dressed himself, but put his green T-shirt on backwards. She fixed it and tied his shoes for him.

He promptly untied them and tried to do it himself. She showed him again and he watched her intently.

He pulled the strings loose and tried once more, successfully this time. The cocky look on his face was endearing, and she ruffled his hair.

Not too much later after that he regained his energy and started pulling open drawers and cabinets.

She told him 'No' and he pretended to not understand her so he could keep on peeking inside at them and picking through the contents.

He had his first experience with time-out after that.

She needed to move him into an environment where he could explore and play safely. There was no reason for him to be in the infirmary, but she was the only person he'd made any connection with and she was reluctant to send him away now, especially after she'd disciplined him. He might see a change in environment as abandonment and she wouldn't be with him like she was now.

He had crossed his arms over his chest while he sat in the chair looking unrepentant, her phone alarm set to go off after five minutes. She'd showed it to him and had made it clear he had to sit there until it beeped.

He was going to be a handful.

She wondered who might have toys in their office, something to keep him occupied until Daniel could see him.

She left Becca to watch him and sent out a mass email to the SGC.

She was almost certain that Jay Felger had legos. If he could be persuaded to share them, that might keep her little troublemaker busy.

Siler came into the infirmary to do some routine maintenance. She'd been expecting someone from his department over the last two days. She was surprised Siler had come, though. He generally worked on much more high level projects than what the infirmary needed done. He nodded to her and went to a corner and started working, prying off panels and opening his tool box.

She went back into the isolation room and nodded to Becca, releasing her from babysitting. She turned the chair around and crouched down in front of him.

He wouldn't look at her. She cupped his little face and his eyes flew to hers.

"You need to be a good boy and not do things when you're told 'No,'" she said, trusting that her tone of voice and his understanding of what 'No' meant would communicate her intent to him.

He stared at her for a moment, and then his lip started to give away that he was on the verge of crying again.

She stood up and gathered him into her arms. He clung to her, his legs wrapping around her waist, his arms tightly wound around her neck.

She carried him out of isolation and over to her desk. "You're all right, you're all right, sweetheart," she said to him, over and over, rubbing his back until the tenseness eased from his body.

He wiggled a little, and she plunked him down in her desk chair. She held up a finger and arched her eyebrows at him and he stopped his slide to the floor. He looked warily at the Marines who had moved much closer to him, and she put her hand on his head.

"They won't hurt you, but you need to stay here." She pointed to the chair and repeated herself. He glanced from her to them but didn't move.

She opened a side drawer on her desk and fished out her old Ipod and a set of earplugs. She showed it to him, showed him how to turn it on and how to access the songs on it. Then she placed the earplugs in his ears and let him experience the music.

His mouth opened as a song from several years ago started playing. He started swaying to the beat of _Six White Horses_ a Gillian Welch song with an old-timey mountain sound. She wasn't sure she wanted to introduce him to any hard rock. But this song and the others on _The Harrow and the Harvest_ album were fairly quiet. He started tapping his fingers on the desk and she busied herself with sending out the EEG readings to two top neurologists with security clearances.

"Ma'am?" One of the Marines on guard duty interrupted her train of thought about healing abilities and EEG patterns. She was positive that Dr. Frasier's old records might prove helpful.

"Yes, Corporal?" But even as she said it she was turning to glance at her desk. Her troublemaker wasn't there.

"He's with Sergeant Siler, ma'am. We're keeping an eye on him. He's not doing anything much, just watching Sergeant Siler work."

She had taken her eyes off him for only a minute. She shook her head and wondered briefly just how difficult becoming a mother was going to be. "Thank you, Corporal."

"He's fast, ma'am. And quiet. I didn't think we needed to zat him again, though."

She looked over to where Siler was working flat on his back, his head and shoulders inside the open wall, the panels he'd removed stacked up to one side. The boy was imitating him, his small body lying right next to Siler's. He had scooted up so that he, too, could see inside the wall.

"No," she said to Corporal Miles, sighing. "He's too small to handle that kind of shock very well." She'd have to put him in timeout again. For his own safety, he needed to learn to follow directions. Not all of his guards would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt if he darted away.

The phone call she had to take delayed her from dealing with her little troublemaker for fifteen minutes. She could see that he was behaving, though, paying attention to whatever Siler was doing. She trusted that if it was inappropriate for the boy to be down there with him, Siler would have turned him over to her or the guards.

She walked over and surveyed the two pairs of legs, large and small, that were sticking out of the wall. Siler's were covered in the bright blue coveralls of the tech department, the boy wore blue jeans, his new red sneakers tapping against each other.

She dropped slowly into a crouch and looked inside. "Master Sergeant?"

"Yes, ma'am," Siler said. He kept on tightening up a connection over his head.

"I see you've met our visitor." The boy was watching her now, and from the look on his face, he knew he shouldn't be there.

"Yes, ma'am. He's okay here. I'm not doing anything dangerous, and my boys and my girl all did the same thing when they were his size. I'm used to it."

"You know, I was surprised to see you working here. I know how busy you are," she said.

Siler gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "The SGC docs have always taken good care of me, ma'am. I just like returning the favor."

"Thank you, Master Sergeant. I'm sorry that our visitor disturbed you. He won't be doing it anymore."

"Actually, ma'am, I'm fine with him being here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, ma'am. He likes being my helper." He reached out a palm and the boy dropped a screw into it.

"All right. But I'm afraid he's going to have to go to timeout for five minutes."

"I understand, ma'am. You told him to stay put and he didn't. I'll back you up if he fusses."

Siler was good. With a look, he got the boy to cooperate with her. When the boy was sitting back in the chair, Siler folded his tall body down so that he was at eye level with him.

"Little man, you sit here till that alarm goes off," he pointed to her phone alarm on the desk, "and then you can be my helper again." He waved a hand towards where he'd been working. "Okay?" he said, nodding his head. He held out a screw and when the boy mimicked him by nodding, he handed it over.

Siler ignored the longing looks the boy gave him during the timeout, but as soon as the phone alarm went off, he walked to him and tousled the boy's hair. He held out his hand and the boy took it; he walked him over to where she was standing, observing them both.

He gave the boy a small push in her direction; the child scuffed one sneaker against the floor. She knelt down and he looked at her, his dark eyes uncertain. She opened her arms and he hugged her.

She smoothed his hair, tucked a few soft strands behind his ear. "Be good." She pointed to Siler. "Listen to Master Sergeant Siler."

Siler took the boy's hand again and they went back to work.

x x x

SG1 was late. They wouldn't be returning until the morning. She needed to get the boy settled into a room. She'd put Marta in charge of gathering up the donated toys and fixing up one of the guest rooms, the ones that locked from the outside, for the boy.

He needed a name. If Daniel couldn't figure out where he belonged tomorrow, then she was going to put his name down as Malin Tripp. Malin meant strong little warrior, and Tripp meant traveler. She might have been spending too much time on the baby naming sites on the internet.

He and Siler had finished putting all the panels back into place, and the child was currently sitting in Siler's lap, the two of them leaning against the wall. To her eye, the boy was getting sleepy.

Siler was probably done for the day and deserved to go home. She got up from her desk to take over from him, when the infirmary alarms started blaring.

The loudspeaker announced that SG19 was returning with wounded. She sent a triage team down to the gate room, and she and Marta began prepping for the injured.

Siler approached her, one hand on the boy's shoulder. "Ma'am, he shouldn't see the wounded. There's a room ready for him?"

"Yes. But I can't spare any of my staff right now to get him settled in."

"I'll do it. Does he have anything up here to take down?"

"No. Are you sure, Master Sergeant?"

"Yes, ma'am." He tousled the boy's hair and the child tipped his head backwards and smiled up at the tall man.

"It's obvious that he's attached himself to you. He didn't approach any of the nurses or the Marines like he did you."

"He's a good boy." Siler laid his hand on the boy's head.

She looked at him warningly. "We still don't know if he's dangerous, Master Sergeant. You'll need to stay aware of that. He can heal himself, and we just don't know what other talents he might manifest."

"Yes, ma'am. I haven't relaxed my guard. I've seen a lot of strange stuff since being posted here. But, he's a little boy, whatever else he is. If one of mine had gotten lost, and ended up like him... Well, ma'am. I'm willing to help out with him."

"Thank you," she said. "You'd better go, before we get busy in here."

She crouched down, a little awkwardly because of her belly, and cupped the boy's face.

"Behave, young man." She pointed to Siler. "Listen to him, he's going to take you to your new room."

She hugged him then, and told Siler the floor and room number. The Marines flanked them as they left, the boy holding Siler's hand tightly.

She watched them leave. When the door opened to the corridor, the boy turned around and looked at her, biting his lip.

She smiled at him and waved goodbye.

He returned the gesture and then Siler picked him up and carried him out the door, his head on Siler's shoulder, but still keeping eye contact with her.

She put her hand on her belly, just a moment of respite, and as the gurneys were pushed into the room, she asked, briskly, "What have we got here?"

x x x


End file.
